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You are here: Home / Around the Hobby / Notes: Ohtani Ball Auction to Proceed for Now; A’s Bid Farewell with Stadium Replica; CGC Closes for Hurricane

Notes: Ohtani Ball Auction to Proceed for Now; A’s Bid Farewell with Stadium Replica; CGC Closes for Hurricane

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The auction for Shohei Ohtani’s 50th home run ball will open as scheduled Friday after a judge turned down a request for a temporary restraining order sought by a teenager who says the ball was taken from him by force after it reached the stands.

Max Matus filed a lawsuit against Chris Belanski, who consigned the ball after he walked away with a ball that carries a $500,000 opening bid or a $4 million purchase price.

The scene in the stands at the Dodgers-Marlins game as fans chased the ball hit by Shohei Ohtani for his 50th home run.

On Thursday, a request to halt the auction was denied but an attorney representing Matus says the ball can’t be sold until a hearing on the whole issue is held Oct. 10.

“The judge asked us to try to work it out,” John Uustal, of the Kelley-Uustal law firm in Florida, told ESPN. 

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Thursday afternoon marked the end of a baseball era in Oakland where the A’s have been playing baseball since 1968.  The team is set to move to Las Vegas, after a detour to Sacramento for a couple of seasons. 

A sellout crowd witnessed the A’s beat the Texas Rangers in the farewell game. 

Over the last couple of days, crew members were seen scooping up dirt from the stadium to give to some those who asked.

While some fans had spent the last couple of games trying cart away stadium seats (they didn’t get away with them)….

…Others were content to get in line early and pick up the giveaway:  a plastic model replica of the Oakland Coliseum.  The team says the first 30,000 fans got one.

Many of them had hit eBay before the first pitch.

During their time in Oakland, the A’s won 17 West Division titles, six pennants and four World Series.

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On the other side of the country, card grading and authentication firm CGC and its sister companies closed their doors due to Hurricane Helene.

The Certified Collectibles Group is based in Sarasota, FL, an area that took on heavy rain and storm surge as Helene roared into the area Thursday as a Category 3 storm.  CCG’s off-site customer service “will continue to operate as fully as possible,” the company said. 

CGC’s offices are located about nine miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico and are not in a flood zone.  “All collectibles are secure,” they stated.

The company was planning to re-open on Friday.

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About Rich Mueller

Rich is the editor and founder of Sports Collectors Daily. A broadcaster and writer for over 40 years and a collector for even longer than that, he's usually typing something somewhere. Type him back at [email protected].